Did you know that November is National Gratitude Month? I didn’t, well at least not until I came into the 12 Step rooms of recovery. With that being said, I decided to honor this special month with at least one blog entry about it, especially given that I’ve struggled quite a bit with remaining grateful on many of the heavy pain-filled days I’ve gone through in recent months.
I truly believe it’s extremely important to have a grateful mind and body because it’s quite easy to get caught up in what I don’t have, versus what I do. And frankly, I have a lot to be grateful for.
First and foremost, I’m grateful for being clean and sober from all my former addictions, as without my sobriety, my life would certainly be in shambles. Beyond that, there are plenty of other things I have every reason to be grateful for, from the help my spiritual teacher continues to give me, to my partner who has stuck by my side through all the pain I’ve had to go through, for both of my sponsors in my recovery programs who have been there for me when I needed them the most, to all those out there in the world who keep on praying for my health to improve, to the fact that I still have my eyesight, my hearing, and the functionality of the majority of my body, for the abundance of food, water, clothing, and shelter that I’ve always had in life, to my sister who has constantly been there for me and never gave up believing in me, even when I did for a time, to my friend Cedric who has shared a spiritual bond with me for close to two decades, and lastly to my Higher Power who has made all this possible.
Thus I’m more than thankful for remembering that November is National Gratitude Month because without remaining grateful, I often tend to find myself drifting backward into places I no longer wish to ever go back to. This is precisely why I plan on keeping a grateful heart, as I know in doing so I will remain much healthier and much closer to my Higher Power than if I didn’t…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson